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First Report- Ft. Lauderdale to St. Augustine

Hello! This is the first report of the trip- Day one and two. Pictures and video to follow, too beat out from a LONG day- a 14 hour day! Here is my blog diary covering Ft. Lauderdale to St. Augustine, FL:

Friday, May 15, 2009 Arrived safe and sound to Miami Airport. Dave and Yvette picked me up and we headed directly over to the boat to unpack and get settled in.

Turned out I thought we would hang out in So. FL for a few days before leaving, but the window of travel opportunity presented itself, so Dave made the decision to leave in the morning.

So off to dinner to a restaurant called “Tropical” something or another. Had crab cakes, a rum drink, and key lime pie to celebrate my arrival to FL. It was very good, so with full tummies we headed off to Publix, the local grocery store near the boat yard to provision for the first leg.

Jet lag caught up with me, so I slept well in my statesroom on the yacht. I get a queen bed, private head, very nice. More about the boat later though. Night night!

Saturday, May 16, 2009- Up early to leave the boat yard by 7:00 am and head up the river to the intercoastal, then out to the Atlantic Ocean. At one point, we were held up for a train/ lift bridge, so I grabbed the video camera and took some feed for Joe, who is a train buff.

Life was good, until we hit the waves. Some boats ride lower than others, some boats are tossed around easier. Unfortunately, Odyessey is in the second category. I kept my cookies for almost 2 hours of the sea waves and being pounded. Then I figured out, for the first time in my life, that I could, indeed, succumb to sea sickness.

My sister has a similar sense of humor that I do, so she kept trying to get a picture of me praying to the porcelain gods for all you blog readers to enjoy. Thank goodness, I had already finished, so my dignity is still intact and YOU are not grossed out.

Spent the next 5 hours flat on the salon sofa trying to sleep it off. Finally I woke up a little while ago feeling better, so I can write this. This is the very first time I have been seasick, so it tells you how rough it was for us.

Finally made it to St. Augustine, FL after dark, which was dicey. As I mentioned above, a hard 14 hours since we stayed offshore and did not use the intercoastal. Hard to see the buoys to safely make it into the harbor. Docking procedure went well, we had help on the dock, which is always appreciated. We are all beat!

Part of the reason we are rushing is to get to Charlestown, SC before the weather front hits us. After that, the waves will be too big for us to continue, so we will hunker down in SC for a few days and sightsee. (If anyone has hints of places to see and things to do, please post!).

When we are at Charlestown, I will upload pictures to share and- if I can figure out my new camcorder- I will attempt to upload a video.

That’s it for now. Does anyone have a question, I will answer it when I can get wifi. Also, I am able to twitter, even off shore, which is a miracle, so you could sign up for my Tweets- and also my sister, Yvette Andrews (real name and Tweet name). Hugs, from Carla

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8 thoughts on “First Report- Ft. Lauderdale to St. Augustine”

Carla – Charleston is fantastic! I’m about 45 miles inland. The architecture, the cobblestones, the quilt shop (People, Places, and Quilts at 1 Henrietta St. – tell them KK sent you. You can venture further out from the city and visit old plantations and gardens. Take a horse drawn tour of the city or do a self-guided walking tour. Go up to N. Charleston and visit the restoration of the Hunley – the submarine from the Civil War. You will not run out of things to do or sites to see!

Some boats are barf machines. Sorry you got sick, I am actually quite talented at it, but some boats are infinitely worse than others….ugh. I was in Charleston YEARS ago, by land, we went past it by sea….Got the best pickles of my life in St Augustine though, and one of the worst nights in an overtight anchorage with wind over tide. Yech.

Avoid alcohol & heavy or greasy food the night before leaving….eat light. Have some gingerale, gingersnaps, any kind of ginger may help. If you can occupy yourself…maybe driving for a while, it may help. Avoid staying below. Avoid doing things like reading. Good Luck!!!

Just refueled and getting ready to leave. Yes, C, we were the last boat in for the night, so the only open spot was the gas dock.

If we were here longer, I would hunt for those pickles. I did just hear the church bells ringing on shore, lovely sound.

Yes, this one seems to be more sensitive than the other boats, the Wombat was more “barf- proof” than this one. My sister once told me that everyone gets sea sick at some point, it is just that the tolerance is higher in some.

Thanks, KK, for all the tips. I will certainly hit that shop this time since they were closed the last time when I was there. I need to buy binding for the sock monkey quilt, too. Are they nice enough to ask to “borrow” a machine to sew it on? Thanks, Carla

I had never gotten sea sick, or any kind of travel sick in all my life. Then, the last time I went out on a boat was a very hot, hot day here in Florida about 2 years back. Between the heat and the waves, I thought I’d lose it. Although I didn’t “lose it”, I left with a new appreciation for folks who get sea sick. I felt so green around the gills that day! I couldn’t believe it happened. I blame the Florida sun. And it was pretty hot yesterday and the day before. Even with a breeze on the water.

I’m about an hour from St. Augustine. It’s really beautiful there. If you ever get another chance, go.

I recommend pieces of candied ginger, and those elastic wrist-bands with the acupressure bump. You should be able to find them at a drug-store or WestMarine type place. Hope you feel better on the next leg!

So sorry to hear about the sea-sickness. I generally do not get seasick but under the right conditions. Yep! Not fun.

Our neighbor of 35+ years was a commercial fisherman. He fished the Alaskan waters every summer for 50+ years. He swore anyone that tells you they never get seasick is either lying or hasn’t hit the right conditions yet.